The Adventure Club Afloat eBook

the harbour he had supposed that not more than half
a dozen craft were within sight, but now, between
mouth and causeway, fully two dozen sailboats and
launches dotted the surface. Over his shoulder
was a little hamlet that was doubtless Vineyard Haven.
Facing him was a larger community, and he decided
that that would be Oak Bluffs. Half a mile down
the harbour lay the Adventurer and, nearer
at hand, the Follow Me. But what was of
more present interest to Perry was a group of figures
on the opposite beach. They appeared to be seated
and there was that in their attitude which, even at
this distance, told of dejection. So, reflected
Perry, might have looked a group of marooned sailors.
He sighed and bent again to his inadequate oars.
He was under no misapprehension as to the sort of
welcome awaiting him, but, like an early Christian
martyr on the way to the arena, he proceeded with
high courage if scant enthusiasm.

With the sun pouring down upon him, with his hands
blistered, with his breath just about exhausted and
his arms aching, he at last drew to the shore amidst
a dense and unflattering silence. Five irate youths
stepped into the tender and crowded the seats.
Harry Corwin took his place beside Perry and relieved
him of the port oar. Perry would have yielded
the other very gladly, but none offered to accept it
and he hadn’t the courage to make the suggestion.
The dingey floated off the sand again, headed for
the Follow Me, and then the storm broke.
It didn’t descend all at once, however.
At first there were muffled growls of thunder from
Harry Corwin. Then came claps from Wink Wheeler.
After that the elements raged about Perry’s
defenceless head, even “Brownie” supplying
some fine lightning effects!

Perry gathered in the course of the uncomplimentary
remarks directed toward him that the crowd, being
unable to find the dingey where they believed they
had left it, had spent some twenty minutes searching
up and down the beach, that subsequently they had
waited there in the fog for a good forty minutes more
and that eventually Perry Bush would sooner or later
come to some perfectly deplorable end and that for
their part they didn’t care how soon it might
be. By the time the Follow Me was reached
Perry was too worn out to offer any excuse. Cas,
however, did it for him, and, as the others’
tempers had somewhat sobered by then amusement succeeded
anger. Perry faintly and vaguely described his
wanderings about the harbour and the amusement increased.
As dinner was announced about that time he was dragged
to the cabin and propped in a corner of a bunk and
fed out of hand. An hour later he was transported,
somewhat recovered, to the Adventurer by Harry
and Tom Corwin and Wink Wheeler and delivered, together
with his precious can of milk, into the hands of his
ship-mates.

The Adventurer’s tender bobbed about
at the stern and the first person Perry set eyes on
as he scrambled onto the bridge deck was Han.
Perry fixed him with a scathing gaze. “Where,”
he demanded, “did you get to, idiot?”